Rizzo: Kieboom working on hitting and defense during coronavirus delay

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said Carter Kieboom is like any other player sidelined by the baseball shutdown, but acknowledged the third baseman is getting extra infield and hitting instruction during the downtime brought on by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The replacement for All-Star Anthony Rendon at third base was the biggest spring training story as players descended on South Florida in mid-February. The 22-year-old top Nationals prospect slashed .233/.395/.300 in 14 exhibition games and struggled with a few throws from third base.

"He's in the same situation as all of our 40-man roster guys," Rizzo said. "He's working out on his own and staying in close contact with our hitting and positional coaches. I know (third base coach Tim Bogar) has talked to him constantly about his defensive protocol and his defensive program, his throwing program, and (hitting coaches) Kevin (Long) and Pat (Roessler) are obviously working on his hitting program.

"He's in the same mode as the rest of our players, getting ready as best as they can. And when the bell rings he, like the rest of us, will have to be prepared, hit the ground running, and when the season starts, we are going to take the best 26 north to begin the season."

Four days ago, the Nationals announced that a handful of players who had been in the big league camp would go to Triple-A Fresno or Double-A Harrisburg.

The Nationals optioned catcher Tres Barrera and right-hander Erick Fedde to Fresno. Right-handers James Bourque and Kyle Finnegan, infielder Adrián Sanchez and outfielder Andrew Stevenson were sent to Harrisburg.

During a conference call Monday, Rizzo said these moves were business as usual in preparation for the 2020 season, which is still postponed indefinitely.

"Some of (the moves) are procedural," Rizzo said. "Some of them are according to a timeline. None of them preclude us from any of those players that we've optioned out to make it on the opening day roster."

During the current delay, Rizzo said, each player has his own way of staying in baseball shape and all are going about their regular strength training.

"Guys are going to get their swings in," Rizzo said. "They're going to get their throwing programs in, and sometimes in very unique ways. The lucky ones have facilities at their homes that they work out diligently. Some don't. Some players are capable of getting their throwing program in easier than others. We are finding ways to keep themselves (in game shape) and be ready to ramp up when the need arises."

With opening day being pushed back, some have speculated that regular season games could be pushed into October and even November, and Major League Baseball is reportedly considering weekly doubleheaders to make up for lost time, and even games played at neutral sites. Rizzo said the Nats do not have a reaction to those potential changes because no new schedule has been set yet in this current fluid and unpredictable situation.

"When we talk about scheduling, at this point, it's hard to say what can or should be done," Rizzo said. "MLB is exhausting all their brainpower and manpower, along with the 30 clubs, to come up with some ideas and what's the best way to play a regular season and as many games as possible and get to a playoff scenario. As the commissioner said, we're going to need to get creative, but beyond that, we're just speculating on all these things and I don't think it's the right thing to do for us as an individual team.

"These are industry-wide concepts, and suffice it to say we have all trust in the commissioner's office and the Players Association to get something down that's going to be safe for players, fans and staff to get us to as competitive of a season as possible within the parameters that we have to work with."

And speaking of the industry as a whole, MLB and the MLB Players Association were able to come to an agreement about service time for 2020. The two sides agreed that if the regular season is completely canceled, players would get credit for the same length of service time they earned in 2019. If the season is played, but shorter than 162 games, service time will be prorated. This would allow those players who would have hit free agency at the end of this season to still get that opportunity.

"I think the agreement with MLB and the Players Association, I think it was good for the game that they were able to come to an agreement," Rizzo said. "There are so many unknowns with our game right now that I think it's great the two sides were able to settle a few of these agreements and kind of put that behind us. I think that showed good faith between both sides.

"To both those sides' credit, it's a complicated deal that they put together very thoughtfully with player safety in mind and the careers of these guys. Hats off to both of those sides that worked extremely hard to get this thing done. I think it was for the betterment of baseball in such unique and trying times."